The spending Madness has to stop Says Roger Douglas

NZ faces a serious financial situation says Sir Roger Douglas and it has been made much worse by the incredible waste of public expenditure over the last 12 years.

Over that period of time New Zealand Government’s have top dressed the country with money to buy votes.

This massive waste in public expenditure started back in 1996.

It started when the Bolger government agreed to spend an extra $5 billion of public expenditure in order to get the support of Winston Peters.

Whatever you want to say about Peters he is not cheap.

The billions of taxpayers money that Bolger wasted has been added to by an additional $18 b of largely wasteful expenditure by Labour.

If you spend public money at a rate higher than inflation it’s wasteful.

National has learnt nothing from this pork barrelling for votes.

National are promising to throw billions of dollars of extra government expenditure at the economy with one purpose in mind - to bribe the voter.

This approach has always disgusted me.

I remember in 1987 Mike Moore urging me to spend an extra $100 million in order to keep National out.

I refused to do it given the economic circumstances that the country faced.

I wish Key, English, Clark and Cullen would have the same resolve

Why don’t they try putting New Zeland first for a change instead of their own narrow self-interest.

The fact is there is no free lunch.

We are about to face the folly of Labour and National’s past indiscretions.

ACT’s policy of holding increases of government expenditure to the rate of inflation on a per capita basis is the only way forward.

Only then we will be able to afford real sustainable tax cuts.

Tax is all about expenditure.

When will English and Cullen come to realise this.

The question for New Zealand voters is to ask themselves, why continue to vote for Labour or National.

Because of these expenditure follies, these buying votes extravaganzas, is taxing hard working New Zealanders an extra $15,000 per year or $200 per week.

That is $280 per week in wasteful increases in government expenditure over and above any increase in inflation.

Voters should ask themselves "what did I get for that".

"What would I do with it today if the govt left it in my hands."

Wasteful spending of public money to buy votes has made the financial crisis much much worse.

The madness will continue until governments follow ACT policies and increase spending by only what the increase in population and inflation require.

ENDS

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